Incessant pings from door-frame metal detectors irritate passengers and cops alike ahead of Jan 26 event

The door-frame metal detectors installed at the CST station to thwart any imminent terror attack during the Republic Day celebrations have literally launched a decibel attack on the passengers and the police alike.

The detectors make an annoyingly high beep sound whenever a passenger passes through the doors, courtesy the railway officials who apparently forgot to lower the volume of the equipment as they were busy overseeing preparations for the January 26 event.


Officials are so harassed by the constant beeping that they have decided to turn a deaf ear to the sounds emitted by the metal detector

With Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan, who was supposed to attend the flag hoisting ceremony at the
station, canceling his programme, the officials seem to have turned a deaf ear to the "deafening" beeps of the metal detectors.

The cacophony of the malfunctioning equipment is irritating the passengers and the policemen deployed at the station alike.

"We cannot move from our place to avoid this decibel torture as we are on duty. I am sitting here since morning and now I am feeling very irritated with the non-stop pings," said a policeman deputed at the CST.

Another policeman chipped in, "The beep is so loud that it can be heard from one end of the station hall to the other.u00a0

The metal detectors of the main line, near to the hall of the main line and suburban line, are the busiest (and the most torturous ones).
u00a0
We have been instructed not to move an inch from our position, so we have no option but to tolerate this decibel attack."

With the equipment pinging for no rhyme or reason, the policemen also seem to be taking its alerts lightly.
"It's a continuous process of noisy beeps.

How many times do we look at the door-frame metal detectors? Each and every person carries some sort of metal item and the equipment beeps when such objects pass through the door," he adds.

Arun Bhosale, a passenger at the CST station, said, "I am not able to hear the announcements because of the non-stop beeps.

Suddenly, I am finding CST very noisy today. The railway authorities should lower the volume for the machine."

Rs 30,000
The cost of door-frame metal detectors

The Other Side
However, P C Sinha, Senior Divisional Security Chief, Central Railway, said, "I will look into the issue and give instructions to reduce the volume (of the equipment) as required."

Voices
MiD DAY spoke to a few passengers at the station and discovered that railway authorities have forgotten to decrease the volume of the equipment as they are so busy in the preparations of the 26 January. Tukaram Divekar, a 50-year-old passenger who had come to receive a relative at the station, said, "I have been standing here for around an hour. The noise of the machine is so irritating that I am planning to leave the place even if my relative does not turn up."u00a0u00a0

Ek Cutting!
CST: world heritage site
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus formerly Victoria Terminus, and better known by its abbreviation CST or Bombay VT, is a historic railway station. The station was designed by Frederick William Stevens, a consulting architect in 1887-1888. It took 10 years to complete and was named Victoria Terminus in honour of the Queen and Empress Victoria. On July 2 2004, the station was nominated as a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO.